Over the past week, Taiwanese steel mills’ appetite for import scrap has not changed much, remaining on the lower side. “Import scrap is not cost efficient for local rebar prices which are low and rebar trading is slow,” a source from a major Taiwanese mill commented this week. The major Taiwanese producer Feng Hsin has kept its domestic rebar prices stable this week at TWD 15,800/mt ($502/mt) ex-works, with dollar-based prices moving up by $1/mt taking the exchange rate into account. It was reported that Feng Hsin has continued selling rebar at TWD 15,600/mt ($496/mt) ex-works this week, unchanged week on week TWD, up by $1/mt. Taiwanese mills are still delivering rebars to customers with a TWD 100/mt discount.
Due to the holiday season ex-US scrap offers to Taiwan have disappeared this week. Market sources believe that they will return next week with a stable price trend. Last week, prices for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap in containers were at $300-305/mt CFR Taiwan with ex-US deals closed at $298-299/mt CFR.
Being out of the market for weeks, Japanese sellers returned to the Taiwanese market with offers at $316-319/mt CFR. Three weeks ago, offers for Japanese H1/2 (50:50) scrap bulk cargoes were at $315-318/mt CFR. Therefore, it can be said that Japanese scrap prices for Taiwan have also moved sideways over the month. No new ex-Japan deal has been made this week.
Feng Hsin has kept its scrap procurement prices stable this week at TWD 8,800/mt ($279/mt) delivered, stable on US dollar basis.
$1= TWD 31.44